


The common tongue of you loving me

by Estelle



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 03:55:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20650793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estelle/pseuds/Estelle
Summary: When Skinner gets hurt in a fight, Dalish takes care of her.





	The common tongue of you loving me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [venndaai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/venndaai/gifts).

> I loved all your prompts, so I tried to combine them. Hope you'll like it!

All in all, it wasn’t that difficult of a fight.  
Dalish and Skinner were on a scouting mission just off the coast, and had happened upon a small group of bandits in the forest.  
Raising an eyebrow, Dalish looked at her partner, and Skinner shrugged, unsheathing her knives, silently signalling that she’d rather fight them than sneak around, and Dalish agreed.  
Two of the bandits were down before they even noticed them, Skinner neatly slicing the neck of one of them, and Dalish disposing of the other with a well placed lightning bolt, that she would of course insist on being an arrow, should anyone question it. Not that she expected any of the bandits to stay alive to do so, but it still needed to be said.  
In a heartbeat, Skinner moved on to the next one, a burly man with an impressive axe, who put up more of a fight than his companion, but was still no match for Skinner’s speed and skill.  
Admiring her partner’s work nearly made Dalish miss the next attack, and she chided herself for such a stupid mistake while blocking the blow with her staff.  
Dropping low, she swept his legs out from under him, then incinerated him with a small fireball, knocking him on the head with her staff to make sure he had no chance to put out the fire.  
When she turned around, Skinner was facing off against the last two bandits, not exactly struggling, but not having an easy time either.  
With deadly precision, Dalish fired another lightning bolt, hitting the bandit straight in the chest, just as Skinner stabbed the other one neatly in the throat.  
Walking over to her partner, she commented “Nice work!”  
Skinner looked up from where she was wiping her knives clean on the bandits coat and grinned. “Likewise.”  
Looping her arm around Dalish’s back to pull her closer, she proposed “We should celebrate.”  
Dalish shook her head, but nonetheless quickly pecked her on the lips. “Later.”  
“Fine, work first.” Sighing, Skinner shortly leaned her forehead against Dalish’s, then pulled away.  
Together, they collected the little coin the bandits had, some blades they could sell, and a few other trinkets, then went on with their mission.

When they got back to camp, just before nightfall, Skinner went to report to their boss, and Dalish sat down next to Krem, who was working on getting a fire going.   
He acknowledged her with a nod, and she smiled and pulled a little wooden nug carving out of her bag and offered it to him.  
“Thought of you when I saw it”, she explained, and Krem laughed.  
“Of course you did.” Shaking his head, he took the nug, inspecting it, then placed it in one of his pockets with a shrug, but Dalish caught the small smile playing at his lips and knew that he liked her little gift.  
Apparently having finished her report for the Iron Bull, Skinner came over to them and placed a steaming mug of herbal tea into Dalish’s hands.  
Grateful, she took a sip and subtly leaned against Skinner’s shoulder, just enjoying the warmth of both the drink in her hand and her partner at her side for a moment.

As the evening went on, she switched the tea for ale, and the subtle leaning for laying her head on Skinner’s shoulder, who placed an arm around her waist, drawing her even closer.  
The Chargers of course knew about their relationship, and there had been lots of good natured teasing in the beginning, but by now, their affection rarely warranted a comment.

Later, after an evening of companionable drinking and chatting, they retired to their tent, and it was only when Skinner shrugged out of her tunic that Dalish noticed the large bruise on her shoulder and down her back.  
“You’re hurt!”, she remarked, alarmed, but Skinner shrugged.  
“It’s nothing. One of them got me, but there isn’t even blood.”  
Dalish frowned. “Still, it must hurt! You should have told me!”  
Gently, she guided her partner to sit down on their bedding, then knelt down behind her.  
“Let me see!”  
She quickly removed Skinner’s undershirt and lightly traced her hand down her back, over the bruise that was starting to form there, already blooming purple and blue.  
“Are you going to heal that with your bow?”, Skinner teased.  
Dalish snorted. “I know a thing or two about healing herbs.”  
“I don’t doubt that.” Skinner’s voice grew quieter then, more serious. “You know you don’t have to pretend with me, right?”  
Sighing, Dalish nodded, even though Skinner couldn’t see her, and moved her hands over the bruise again, letting the healing magic seep in and repair the damage.   
“I know, it’s just… It’s such a habit, I hardly know what else to do.”  
She had so gotten used to being on her own and keeping her secret that it was still strange to have people she trusted now. Not only a group like the Chargers, that felt like a crazy kind of family, but something closer, more intimate than that.   
She didn’t know how to convey that with words though, so she just continued to lightly stroke Skinner’s back, until she turned around and took her hands, looking at her earnestly.  
“I understand that it’s difficult, but please know that I would never betray you.”  
Skinner’s voice was so serious, her gaze never wavering, and Dalish knew in her heart that she meant it, that she would always be able to trust her.  
So she let a small smile show on her lips before she leaned forward and kissed her partner softly, just a light press of lips, a kiss for the sake of kissing, for that sense of connection.  
That was, until Skinner sighed into the kiss, opening her lips a little, and pulling her closer, and she responded immediately, deepening the kiss and pulling Skinner into her lap, aligning their hips and tangling her hands in her hair.  
Obviously pleased with the proceedings, Skinner pressed closer, moaning into the kiss and tugging at Dalish’s own shirt.  
Moving back a little, Dalish chuckled. “Impatient?”  
Skinner rolled her eyes. “You started it!”  
Grinning, Dalish kissed her again, the allowed her to take off her shirt, before moving on to kissing her neck and then her collarbone, enjoying the breathless little sounds Skinner was making, and the way her legs tightened around her hips.  
With a swift motion, she leaned forward then, making Skinner lie down on their bedding and moving to kiss a path down her breasts and stomach and then lower, removing the rest of her undergarments in the process.  
She then took a moment to just drink in the sight of her partner laid out for her like that, skin flushed and breathing hard, until Skinner made an impatient sound, and she grinned and got back to her ministrations.

Later, they lay tangled together, still catching their breaths, and Skinner smiled up at her, reaching out to swipe a sweaty strand of hair from her forehead, and Dalish couldn’t help but smile back.  
“I do trust you”, she confessed quietly then, a huge admission for her, and at that, Skinner’s smile grew deeper, more radiant, and Dalish thought that it might be worth bearing her soul just to see this.  
“That’s good”, Skinner answered, just as quietly, and tightened her hold around Dalish’s hip just a little.  
Drifting of to sleep, safe in the arms of her partner, her last thought was that with someone like that at her side, she could take any fight the world threw at her.


End file.
